By Joseph Caruso
Staff Writer
The College’s baseball team was coming off a difficult week in which they dropped back-to-back games to extend their losing streak to three, after winning 12 straight games to open the season. The College traveled to Wayne, New Jersey in order to face off against the Pioneers of William Paterson University on March 30.
To break this losing streak, it would be ideal for the Lions to rekindle some of their early inning success that contributed to their previous win streak, and that is exactly what they did in the opening game. The College scored one run in each of the first two innings, thanks to junior infielders Andrew Fernandez and Mike LaGravenis, who both singled to give the team an early 2-0 lead.
An early lead was especially important, as they were counting on one of their leading pitchers, fifth-year Ben Amon, to have a successful day on the mound and hold the lead. He delivered, as through the first four innings, Amon did not allow any runs while striking out 10 of the 12 batters he retired.
Unfortunately, he stuttered in the bottom of the fourth, allowing a game-tying two run home run to junior catcher Austin Jack of the Pioneers, who finished with four RBIs for the game. Amon was not shaken, as he ended up tossing seven innings, punching out 16 batters in the opening game. This gave him over 200 career strikeouts, and he became just the fourth player in school history to accomplish this feat.
The Lions’ offense could not offer Amon the support for the victory, and the two runs they scored in the opening two innings would be the last time they would cross home plate in the opening game. After junior reliever Matt Santos surrendered four runs in the bottom of the eighth, it was too much for the College to overcome, as they dropped this one 6-2, extending their losing streak to four games.
Luckily, the Lions did not have much time to sulk, and turned their attention to the second game of the doubleheader, desperately needing a victory to break their losing streak. It was junior left-hander Jackson Malouf who would get the call in this one, hoping to have a similar outing to his teammate Amon, but looking for a win this time.
Similarly to the first game, the Lions struck first, scoring in the top of the first and then adding three more runs in the top of the second to go up 4-1 early in the contest. Junior infielder Justin Marcario hit a two-run triple to extend the Lions lead in the second inning. Over the next seven innings, the College would score seven more runs, led by seniors Ryan Goodall and Jack Haynes, who each had multiple RBIs to pad the lead.
Despite the offense breaking out of a slump, the story of this game was the starting pitcher. Malouf had a day to remember on the mound, matching Amon’s strikeout number with 16, and allowing just three runs while pitching all nine innings in the victory. It was much needed length for the Lions, as Malouf pitched his second complete game of the season, with this being the first time he has gone nine innings. Malouf got the win and moved to 3-0 as a starter, as the College got back in the win column with an 11-3 win over William Paterson University.
For the first season since 2019, the College is inside the top 25 D3baseball.com rankings, coming in at No. 21. A combination of stellar starting pitching and a deep lineup has gotten them to this point, and there is no reason to believe that veteran manager Dean Glus cannot keep them within the top 25. As for the next game, the Lions will go to Camden to take on Rutgers-Camden on April 4.
